


Red blood, red lips

by TQnowords



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: Cameos of a lot of characters like Venus and Michiru, F/M, Post-Canon, the generals and Artemis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:01:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27614551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TQnowords/pseuds/TQnowords
Summary: Businesswoman Beryl is killed and detective Saito is the only one who can uncover the murderer.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 9
Collections: Senshi & Shitennou Mini Bang 2020





	Red blood, red lips

The day started in a normal apartment room. Two desks one at the side of the other, two piles of neat folders over them, a boring gray computer, notebooks and an open book with red cursive letters. Opposite the desks, a man with brown skin and silver hair rested face down, only half of his body covered by the green mattress, his left foot hanging outside the bed. His alarm clock had been bipping for a while, unable to wake him up, sign that something was wrong, not that he was aware.

He jolted awake when his telephone ringed. In one jump he was on his two feet and, in one long step, he managed to grab the telephone hiding under his desk. In his rush to stand up, he hit his head on the corner of the furniture and only years of practice kept him for badmouthing. Instead, he answered in an even voice

"Saito Kenjiro here", it was then that he remembered to turn off the alarm of the clock and with the same hand he started massaging his temple as he tried to keep the word from tilting.

"...Good morning. It's Urawa. We have a call about a murder at #444 Soto street, between Kiri and Nini. Cops are already on their way"  
"I will be there in…." Saito started to say but stopped midway. His wrist was bare, no sign of any watch, but on his fingertips, he saw small blood stains. He blinked slowly one time before continuing "I will arrive in 25 minutes"

He hung off, started to undress as he walked towards the bathroom, mechanical actions done out of habit. He took a brief second to see the open injury on his forehead before taking the fastest shower he could. In ten minutes, he was suited up, and after finding his watch under his pillow, he grabbed the keys of his car.

The day was cloudy, people walked on the streets without any care in the world and he glared at them as if they were mocking him.  
At the same time he turned on the last corner before arriving at the address, a shiver traveled from his fingertips to his heart. It was an odd sensation, another signal that something was wrong. He bit his inner cheek, and scolded his face in a more neutral expression once he saw the sirens of cop cars.

  
He parked just at the opposite side of the street. One of the officers approached him, and followed as both headed towards the building.

  
"Victim is a 35 years old businesswoman, her body was found at 9:07 by the clean lady. She was killed about two hours ago. The body is still warm. We already searched the perimeter. Closed door case, one of the windows was broken, but from the inside"

Saito halted before going inside the small one-store building. It had a unnerving atmosphere, a foul smell that promised a forgotten nightmare. He observed from the outside: The two empty desks were made of an expensive wood, the chairs were a non-threatening blue and there was a vase of red roses over a cream colored locker. Still, his fingers almost slipped towards his holster, ready to kill the invisible monster taunting from inside his skull.

"The most haunted place in the most haunted street" the police officer said to Saito "Some people believe a youma was the killer"

"This will be a human" Saito deadpanned, scoffed all his apprehension and marched inside, steps were strong over the green tiles. Still, he had to gather his wits before passing under the yellow tape line lm  
A single cold sweat drop formed on his forehead as he watched the crime scene: lying face down, her long crimson hair soaked in red blood, roses around her, there was Beryl.

"The body lacks visible livor mortis much less any rigor mortis. The temperature is just two grades lower" a dark haired man hovering at the side of the cadaver said solemnly, but his dark eyes had a shine on them akin to triumph. With a marred latex glove, the man turned the corpse and showed the killing injure "A sharp small object is to blame. I would assume a pen for the width, a really hard one, for it punctured the breastbone. It was removed as you can see from the blood splashes. Perhaps lady had an accident?"

The man signaled with his head towards a turned cup of pens that remained over the office table.

"Are you joking, Urawa?" Saito asked as he looked down at the cadaver. The other man kept quiet without answering "There are footprints"

"From the clean lady, Momohara Hanna, she tried to give aid to miss Lombardi"

"Lombardi?"

"That was her name. Beryl Lombardi, the CEO of Free Wings, this traveling agency" Urawa eyed Saito, then glanced to a locker with a blended door lying loopside against the wall. Saito had noticed it, but the broken window was the biggest clue about the method of escape, so he made his way towards it. He was careful to sidestep the blood trail but he stepped over one of the dozens of roses. One of the thorns nailed on his sole. Saito snorted in disbelief after taking another step without getting rid of the thing. Urawa laughed under his hand and before Saito could hear his head off, he turned his attention to the body.

Saito peered over the hole in the window, big enough to fit a grown man. There were pieces of glasses, lying on the damp ground and at their side, no one had stepped over them. The most curious thing was the white cat sniffing the broken pieces.

"You are going to get hurt" Saito said to the cat, in a caring soft voice that he never used in humans. The animal stared at him, startled. Saito gave a kind smile before saying a small "Chu". The cat's tail and spine went up before giving a menacing sound and running away.

Saito sighed through smiling lips before setting again his cold face. Cat forgotten, he turned to the crime scene, for there weren't, indeed, no footprints at sight.

The office was of medium size, at the right side of the door, a locker with a dented gabinet called him silently, he walked towards it, after checking it over with one gloved hand he tried to open it. There was something white behind it, between the furniture and the wall, he was about to grab the item when Uragawa interrupted "Inspector Saito, the team is going to take the body"

Saito turned, checked the place one more time and glanced at the door "There's a crack on the inside of the door window, take a photo of that too"

"You heard him guys"

Saito, as cold as a stone, observed the men remove with care the flowers stuck in the body, some of them tainted by the blood. One of them, the only one with a tag caught his eye immediately. He bended to grab the thing once the body was carried away.

"Masato's garden" he read out loud for the benefit of Urawara, then gave the little tag to the man. "Time to see what our witness has to say"

The cleaner lady, a plump brown haired woman, who identified herself as Mori Momohara, was still in distress, cleaning her watery eyes with an orange handkerchief with peach moffits every three minutes. She nodded when Saito introduced himself.

"What time did you arrive, Miss Momohara?"  
"At eight. We open at 9, and…" the woman sobbed and gulped before talking again "I assumed she was in a meeting, she has meetings with Miss Uchiumi sometimes... it's normal….why did I assume? If only...If only I had not assumed.."

"This Miss Uchiumi is?" Saito cut in, a small edge on the last syllable that was unbecoming of his person at this part of the interview. He forced his lips in a terse line to stop his desire to scream, or laugh, to act so unlike himself.

"Miss Beryl's personal assistant. She's a pretty woman, and has a boyfriend too" Momohara eyes glinted, creating a theory of her own "I saw the boyfriend not long ago… he has short wavy blond hair and walks like a soldier. He has a nasty personality too. That's why I recognized him from before, seven years ago, he and Miss Beryl were a couple of sorts back then. He must be the culprit"

"Can you elaborate?"

"I have been working for this company for years,you know. I remember he used to visit Miss Beryl, but he stopped doing it on the summer of that same year...I never saw him again until about three weeks ago"

Saito nodded. "Did you see him or any person in the premises when you arrived?"

"Well, no"

"Not even the delivery person of the flower store?"

"No, there wasn't anyone...Don't you really think? Little Shinjo would never, he's a sweetheart"

Saito wrote the name down with a swift motion of the wrist.

Masato's Garden was as normal and unassuming place as any other garden in the city. Just flower arrangements sets, some toys on the counter ready to be packed and the smell of humid earth all around.

There was a brown haired woman with a high ponytail making a flower arrangement behind the counter, working diligently, but she stood up once Saito nearer and he cleaned his damp hand before taking out his wallet. Another worker, a bulky man with callous hands approached too.

"Officer Kojiro Saito"

"Genja Kotaru" the man presented himself fast as he noticed the receptionist wasn't too keen on talking. She followed his example, a small scold on her eyebrows.

"Makoto Kino" she eyed the card and her green eyes turned menacing, electric as a dangerous storm "How can I help you?"

"Does your business make any deliveries to Free Wings? And who is the one who took the flowers to Soto's?"

"Yes, we do send flowers arrangements every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday to Free Wings, including Soto's" Kino said with an even voice "Why?"

"Who was on Soto street today?"

"Sundays it's Shinjo Tsukino shift, is he fine, officer?" Kotaru asked, clearly worried about his co-worker.

"There was a skirmish on Free Wings this morning, we are searching for those who could had been there" Saito answered honestly "Do you have his address"

Kino's harsh expression didn't soften as she searched on a notebook but still gave the address to Saito without a fuzz.  
  
It was funny how, after going inside the deen in Saito, every normal place he saw was unremarkable, only what it was supposed to be, nothing more. The Tsukinos's residence, was just like that, a cute house where nothing important happened and no one that mattered lived. Saito squashed that feeling. Here was the house of his prime suspect, the person who might end up in jail by the end of the day.

He pressed the doorbell and waited.

  
A young woman with long blond hair, innocent blue eyes and white skin, answered the door. Her fingers and the low part of her pink t-shirt had black ink, her jeans were clean and she had not socks. An artist of sorts of the callous on her right middle finger was any indication.

  
"Can I help you?" the woman asked, hiding her hands in each other, face slightly colored under Saito's gray eyes.

"Miss Tsukino, isn't it? I'm detective Saito Kenjiro. I'm searching for Shingo Tsukino, is he at home?"

"Shingo? You just missed him for about fifteen minutes"

"I assumed he worked on an earlier shift" Saito tried to discover who, between the workers at the shop or the sister, was trying to lie.

"He does. But he woke up late. He always do that, normally I wake him, but I have a commission for tomorrow, I was working you see, and then, a visited came and next thing I know, Shingo is screaming at us, because I didn't wake him up early"

Saito seized the woman up and then peered inside the house. A man was watching them, tall, dark hair, square face. A red ill-sized shirt that told a whole other story about what little miss Tsukino was doing instead of working.

He asked the woman for a telephone number, said he would call later and left the house, walked just across the street and saluted the old grandmother washing the fence of her house.

"Good morning, ma'am"

"Oh, dearie, what can I do for you?"

"I'm searching for Shingo Tsukino. Did you see what direction he took?"

"Yes, yes, about fifteen minutes ago, he went that way" the old woman smiled with all her teeth as she pointed at the direction. Saito lost his breath, goosebumps on his skin.

Golden locks dancing on a wind made just for her, feminine figure clad in a white sundress with hearts motives, a woman was eying him. There was a long distance between them, but he could feel her piercing gray blue eyes piercing his body, judging not his soul but his heart and it was wrong. The way she made him feel naked and lost, and afraid. Of red curling lips, long fingers tracing skin and eyes tainted yellow by a darkness with a forgotten name.

"Hey! Hey! Are you fine, dear? Do you need water? Do I call an ambulance?"

He ignored the muffled voice of the old woman and tried to put one foot in front of the other, walk before the apparition vanished, already knowing that at the next blink she would be gone. And even then, he blinked.

He wanted to scream in fury, to let all his emotions blow up in an open cry, but he wasn't that sort of man. When faced with overwhelming emotions, it was best to control every muscle of his body, remain quiet and immutable. That was him, Saito Kenjiro, calm and collected.

He felt a pair of eyes watching him and he glared with murder at a black cat atop a branch of a tree. He had never wanted to hurt an animal before, he loved cats the most, but being judged by a cat was aggravating. He strode away after forcing a small platitude towards the old lady, trying with all his might to ignore the scary old cat.  
His next lead was, obviously, the department of the victim. As he seized the house he mused briefly what could drive such a woman who could afford rent in the luxurious complex chose a haunted, cursed place on Soto street. She even had offices in a lush place of the town so it wasn't a matter of necessity.

Money laundering? Smuggling? Sorcery?  
Saito lips twitched at the last idea, frustrated as his own wild conjectures.

The house was empty, of course. Checking from outside the window, inside the kitchen where the lack of fridge was an obvious clue,it added with the fact that both the front and backyard were barren. It was clear Beryl loved roses, she would have planted roses given the chance. A slight movement inside caught his attention.

A small animal, as white as snow, was roaming the place. He got a sense of Deja Vu. Was it Beryl's cat? No, its paws had mud, so it had been recently outside. Perhaps, it was even the same cat that the one at the crime scene, and so, it was a clue.

He walked around the house, searching for the animal's entrance. Luck was on his side, just as Saito was inspecting the backyard, the white cat jumped throught the window.  
It saw him with its blue feline eyes, as any cat does. The notion of the cat having the same stare that any cat shouldn't be strange, Saito still felt wrongness on it, especially when he noticed the strange yellow mark on its forehead. He had seen it before and that put him on the edge.

The cat ran away, going to the neighbor's yard.

Saito sneered at the situation. He really liked cats but after so many strange incidents, even he had to wonder if they were a sign of bad luck, or perhaps, finally, he was going crazy.

Even if his investigation was useless, Urawara's did find a lead. The apartment address of Beryl's assistant, Thetis Ame.  
"You could have interviewed her without me" Saito said to Urawara, hopelessly, for his colleague was more on the shy spectrum than the bold one required in their profession.

"I didn't think it wise. There's something about Miss Ame that troubles me"  
"Does it? I know your gut instinct is good, sharp and accurate. Still, I would appreciate if your deductions were born for a logical path you could explain to the rest of us, otherwise, I feel you're sending us with a half baked warning"

"Better it done than none at all, right?"  
Saito kept quiet at that. Urawara was shy, smart and with great instincts, so was Saito, and every cell of his body told him that Urawara was hiding something, from the beginning of their partnership and now, with Beryl's case, the danger of that conspiracy was nearer than before.

Yes, of course, Urawara was a seer, he knew too much and specially, was well versed in how to use it to manipulate everyone. Allowing him to live was a mistake: the sinner he used to be, one bigger than Kunzite himself. But they were never alone, because Urawara suspected he would be killed by Saito's hands if given the chance.

"Don't"

Saito blinked, pulled out of his thoughts by that little command. He had been daydreaming, again. There was a problem inside him, but by pushing away his own trepidations, he expected it would disappear.

"What did you say?"

"It's here. This's her place"

Saito backtracked, face as blank as ever and watched his partner figure. A man with dark straight hair framing his round face, his big shining black eyes giving him a childish appearance that not even his broad shoulders could take away.

"You're not looking good"

"I'm good, Saito. Just knock the door and let's be over her"

Thetis Ame raised a thin black eyebrow upon seeing them, but it was blatantly clear she recognized Saito with the easiness that only continuous meetings could make, so her eyes appraised Urawa both faster and more keenly, for her eyes checked from Urawara's shoes to his hair, before returning to Saito's face.

"I'm quite busy today" she said in a snippy way and tried to close the door. Saito used his hand to stop it "What's this about, Mr. Saito, isn't it?"

"We are detectives Saito and Urawara. My colleague and I are investigating the murder of your boss, Miss Beryl. Would you mind answering some questions?"

"I...no. Please, come in" she said, resignation and defeat on every aspect of her person "Take seat, yes. I would offer some tea but...This is strange, just yesterday we crossed paths, and now here we are"

"Crossed paths with who?" Saito asked and the woman watched him with a new sharpness, then glanced over the quiet Urawara and her lips settled on a small smile.

"Oh, with you, of course. You were yesterday, with Beryl"

"You must be mistaken"

"Saito was there, at our small office in Soto" she said to Urawara, the man nodded and she continued after a sharp intake of air "You tell me she's dead, Beryl I mean"

"That would be correct. Do you know if she had any enemies?"

Thetis tilted her head towards Saito and scolded her features into a more neutral expression "Do you think, if she had enemies, they would also come after me?"  
"Why would they do that?" Saito asked, his mind going from one shady business after another, even drugs could be involved in the case and so, perhaps it would end up on another department's hands.

"No reason at all. The past is better drown"  
"Buried" Urawara corrected, slightly paler after the words of Thetis "Can you tell us where were you last evening and today's morning?"

Her shoulders fell down, ashamed "I'm afraid no" she was thinking about someone, Saito realized, and she sighed in defeat "About Beryl's enemies...she was a horrible person. Back home, long ago, she hurt a lot of people, I don't even know their names, I can't remember well, but it could be any of them. I must check our folders when we first started the company, 10 years ago, we met a lot of them 10 years ago. I will send them to you later"

Was she trying to throw them off the trail? There was also a hint of fear on her erratic words, unsure about what degree of honesty she should use. It was even more troubling that Saito himself was unsure if he wanted the truth or lies.

"Did Miss Beryl hurt you?" Saito asked bluntly.

"She...hurt us, yes. Even me"

"Then why were you working for her?" Urawara decided to dig in, a small frown between his thick eyebrows. Thetis lowered her head, her black hair covering half her face. Saito noticed the way her high bun was held by a long golden hairpin.

"Since when do you use hairpins?"

"Two years or so. My hair was getting too long, but I didn't want to cut it" she laughed in something that could pass for a small cry "I'm a girl, you know"

He felt as if he was holding her life between his rough hands, just the right pull and she would do what Saito wanted. She would suffer for it, sacrificing everything she was with the hopeless resignation of the weak, and he hated that she was offering it, that he had such an easy choice in front of him. The temptation was evil and still, he couldn't condemn her for he knew it was out of love.

"Let's go, Urawara"

"Yes, I think that would be the best" the other man acted as if Thetis had answered his question. All was just staged, everyone was acting and Saito realized he had forgotten not only his lines but also his role. He wasn't the only one.

"Hey, who are you" a voice, fitting for a merchant, asked from the entrance. There, a man with blond hair, grey eyes and youthful arrogance that not even touching the 30's had managed to mellow. He was clearly unhappy with Saito and Urawara's presence in the apartment.

"Jade. They are cops" Thetis rushed to answer.

"Oh, I see. Can I ask why the gentlemen are here?" Jade managed to sound more cordial, probably would offer even a cup of tea and some threats if it was his home and not his lover's.

"We are investigating a murder" Saito said, managing to keep his voice even, because there was something about Jade that unsettled him, making his blood run cold with guilt and a headache to form on his nape. And probably, it was the chaos inside which caused him to say one name "Beryl's"  
"Beryl, as the owner Free Wings?" Jade smirk was fast gone, but Saito saw it.

Criminals normally would feel proud of their own deeds, thinking themselves smart for doing what anyone without fiber could also do.

"You used to date her" Saito said and the man went as white as ashes.

"No, I didn't. There must be a mistake in the information provided, perhaps?"

Saito smirked and walked outside the apartment, followed by his fellow detective.  
"A lot of people seem quite strange, don't they?" Saito meant to ask rhetorically, but Urawara still gave his opinion.

"I would gather, memories have come quite lost with time, haven't they? This case surely has taken me on memory's lane, back to middle school when man-eating monsters rumours were everywhere. Perhaps, even before that, longer ago... I sometimes also believe, it would be kinder for my soul to be as forgetful, but knowledge is power and I prefer to be the wielder than the unknown victim of fate" those were the most honest feelings Saito had ever heard from Urawara, and as the man himself, they were quite cryptic. Urawara contemplated the sky a moment before turning to Saito and changing the conversation to more useful matters "Do you want to investigate the alternate address of Miss Beryl or go to her central office?"

"Her other address"

Urawara was right, in part, about knowledge being power. But also, Saito knew how one time, he felt naked, violated and broken by red lips and a poisonous smile. She had taken so much for him, proved on both his mind and soul, because she could, she had the power over him, his person and belongings and it was payback, a twisted revenge, to open her secret apartment, to rummage over her things and see what no one else had done and she couldn't do anything because she was dead.

It dawned to him, as a hammer on his stomach, that he was smiling wickedly, holding a red notebook (Beryl's).Yes, she was until yesterday, just a normal woman, a long life ahead of her, and someone had snatched it away. And now, he was in her apartment, in a blink of an eye, all the driving and opening of doors and drawers forgotten. If his sweaty hands weren't holding the notebook, Saito could still deny it was him and blame the disaster on another person.

He felt sick. Disgusted by his own behavior, the world and the notebook.

Probably because he had already crossed the line, becoming wicked was easier, and soon he let aside his apprehension and started skimming through the notebook, searching greedily for answers that had nothing to do with the murder but with a sick desire to destroy Beryl's legacy. Names of politicians, CEOs, ancient families, their numbers, some keywords that went from "affair" to "murder". And then, there were some names from both foreigners and Japanese, with their own entries, strange letters (symbols) that might look as Greek, but everytime he tried to decipher them, he felt his focus waver and nausea set on his throat.

Even at the middle of another wave, he became aware that someone had opened the front door, light steps made him suspect it was a woman. He made his way to the living room to meet her.

She had long blond hair that didn't fit her clean lady outfit, her guilty and yet bold eyes were neither what he expected.

"Ups" the misterious woman giggled and left the room in a hurry. He gave chase.  
Through the hall, the stairs, the lobby, two blocks and to the deserted alley, where she stopped and briefly looked behind her shoulder towards Saito.

"Miss, I'm detective Saito Kenjiro. I must ask for you to follow me to the station"

"Me?" she turned slightly, an innocent childlike smile on her orange glossed lips "Oh, my, but look at me, dressed like this...you know, I kind of need a Make Up"

To be fair, things had gone chaotic since the morning. Getting a thrill invading a department, knowing the victim's name before being briefed, scary cats and Not waking up early. So, somehow waking up tied to a chair made sense.

"What kind of flash grenade was that?" Saito asked his kidnapper. Her lipstick was still orange, and only that was the only similarity with the old makeup "You have talent with disguises. You look quite different, your eye shape and even the wide of your nose seem to be changed"

"Talking about a lady's make-up? That's tacky" the woman clicked her tongue in disapproval.

"I see... should I have instead talked about your preference in clothes?" he bit back. A woman dressed in a short orange skirt and a white blouse that could pass as a highschool uniform, was clearly someone that had no grounds to call him 'tacky'.  
"Kunzite, Kunzite" the woman shook her head and pulled out a green Swiss army knife to toss it from one gloved hand to another "You are forgetting with who you are talking with"

"And that is?" Saito asked, following with his eyes the familiar knife.

"Oh" she stopped her toying, clear surprise on her soft features "Really? You don't really remember?"

He didn't answer. He hoped that she thought he was being reserved instead of clueless. She had far too much control in the situation.

"I had assumed you did. With you sniffing around Beryl, you know, like her good lap dog. Hey, don't look at me that way. You were the one that wronged us" she kept a deadpan voice and that only managed to anger him.

"You have me confused, lady" he had enough sense of mind to not add 'crazy'. She was an unhidden person who had kidnapped an official in some sort of twisted fantasy.

"Saito Kenjiro, 36 years old, son of Saito Subaru and Saito Sakura, that's what the records say. A good police officer, a esteemed detective, a murderer" the woman recited, closing the swiss knife with a click "I know perfectly who you are, prideful men like you are quite hard to forget. And forgive" she opened the knife again, showing the cutter.

"Planning to kill me with my own tool?" Saito observed, at least, that made sense, unlike her crazy tirade.

"Yours?" She eyed the object, inspecting it carefully "Did you kill Beryl?"

Their eyes locked into each other. Neither wavered or flinched under the inquisitive scrutiny. Saito wanted to say that he did, that he was guilty of killing her, but not to her. She knew too much under that layered madness. She was dangerous and he needed to get rid of her.

"No, I didn't"

She throwed him the knife and he caught it with a free hand. He smirked at her. He was aware she had noticed him undoing his bindings and still, he felt he had won against her.

"I see" he noticed her smile was sad before the world faded to white.

It had been 24 hours since the body was found and Saito's world was shaking. He had tried, with all his might, to remember where he had seen the blond woman before, but any memory he had was painted in anachronisms that mengled to crate a medieval-futuristic image where he was standing on the moon and at the same time he had a sword on his hands. The woman was dressed in that parody of highschool uniform and the people around her used clothes that would fit the Victorian era. His mind might as well have mixed different movies in a fever dream to explain the woman that kidnapped him, accused him of murder and left him alone near a bench in the park.

He felt quite fortunate to have woken before anyone has any chance to confuse him with a vagabond. He had also, got back his swiss knife, the irrefutable proof that the meeting with the woman had happened.

Saito closed his eyes and took a deep breath to still his nerves. He crushed the idea that he had gone crazy or had developed a second personality. He was himself and all his lapses in judgement were easily explained by his lack of sleep.

He took a taxi to the police station, changed words with the receptionist, greeted his co-workers, made a mental note that Urawara was out, and finally sat in front of his computer.

The names he recalled from Beryl's notebook were a lot, but his first pick was the famous violinist, Michiru Kaio. A beautiful talented woman, who unlike the rest of the people in the notebook, had neither political power or belonged to a rich family. She was the protegee of the deceased Haru Zoito, and lived in the outskirts of the city.

He made a call to her residence and in that same afternoon, he made her a visit.  
Michiru was a dangerous beauty with blue eyes that smiled with the promise of unknown secrets. Her long hair made waves that danced as she walked, sometimes showing more of her shoulders. Completely different from the way that the misterious's woman. Her blond hair had been straight, swinging from left to right in a single motion, the gray eyes either smiling in mischief or icy with judgement, and her quirky beauty a complete contrast to the mature one of Michiru, and still, Saito felt on his nape that the talented violinist and the blond woman were alike.

"I've been curious since your call, Detective Saito" she said, ignoring the hot beverage in front of her.

Both were sat at a small table in the garden, a green umbrella with water moffits covering them from the afternoon's sunlight and the way her lips smirked was sensual enough to make him notice how intimate the situation was.

"Your name has come in a murder investigating" he had wanted for her to flinch, to feel discomfort for trying to seduce him, but she instead tilted slightly her head to show better her neck, amused by the situation.

"Oh, my! I wonder whose murder it was" and as she finished her words, she used her index finger to clean away a hair from her face. The motion was fluid, starting with a small grace on her mouth, passing through her ear and crossing through her neck. For a brief second, her wavy hair became red and the world darkened around him. He squared his shoulder and faced the woman again.

"Have you heard about someone named Beryl?"

"I'm afraid not. Is that person a suspect?"

"What can you tell me about Sai Zoito?"

"The son of late Haru Zoito? Mmm, well, he might be your type, but at the moment he is dating someone"

Pretty few times had someone caught him off guard like Michiru did. The series of faces he made at her words was enough to make her laugh. He gulped the bitter taste of being humiliated and gave the woman a deadly stare.

"He's doing fine" she said, as if she hadn't insinuated anything before "Since his father passed away, Sai has taken charge of the company. It's a shame, he had been trying to create his own business, by himself and without no one aid. He wanted to be a self-made man. It's interesting, he was one of the three kids from rich family that wanted to make their own life, but he loved his father, and it's too prideful to let his father's legacy go"

"It's hard to believe rich people would walk away from their families fortune" Saito observed, a small layer of ire passing on his syllables. Michiru ignored that and he continued "Ungrateful children who don't know how lucky they are, and when they know, they return again to their family bank"  
"I guess it's true. I wonder when Chiba and Tomoe will ask to return to their family business"

"Chiba? Could that person be, Mamoru Chiba?" One of the names with a special entry on the notebook. Saito had tried to find his address without any luck in the database.

"Oh, my, is he mingled in this murder too? How terrible, is he in any danger from this Beryl person?"

"Can you answer what you know about him?"  
"After the Chiba's murder twenty years ago, the vice-chairman of the Tsubaki company took charge. Mamoru Chiba was, years ago, offered a work-offer in there, but for some reason, he settled for a job in a tech company. He's doing fine, I see him in different events"

Saito checked the information. What would Beryl want with someone that had no direct information about Tsubaki company? Why would a travel agency want to make any deals with a seed company that was on Osaka when every other Japanese person in the list had roots in Tokyo? Was everything a laundering scheme that he had yet to puzzle and he was better calling the NPA?

All those thoughts made an annoying loop even after he left Michiru's residence and found himself in Zoito's offices. Even after the sun was set, some people were still working.

He showed his badge and after the receptionist made a call, Saito was led to Sai Zoito office.

"Here's official Kenjiro Saito, Mr. Zoito" the attendant said, opening the door to Saito.

Zoito was standing behind his desk, a merchant smile on his white face, framed beautifully by honey wavy locks and his green eyes were wickedly smart. He was the prettiest person Saito had seen. Even Michiru would be jealous of Zoito's beauty.  
But then, his smile dropped once he saw Saito and with a snarl, asked for the woman to close the door, leaving both men alone.

"What in the cursed worlds are you doing here?" Sai Zoito asked rudely, one of his fists going to grab a golden letter opener that had been laying over his desk.

"Excuse me?" Saito raised his eyebrow slightly, unamused.

"No! I won't! You damned beast! Do you think you can come meet me, say nothings and I will fall for you again? Go back to Beryl, go! You and that wrench are perfect for each other!" The boy panted after finishing his tirade, his wild eyes promising murder.

"How do you know Beryl?" Saito asked firmly.  
"How? 'How?' Please, Kunzite, don't play the fool, you are better than that, aren't you? Aren't you?" Zoito inspected Saito's face and the left corner of his lip turned up in satisfaction "….oh, my, haha! You really can't recall being Beryl's favorite"

The boy might as well have punched Saito on the gut, for he lost his breath and sense of self as soon as they boy intonated the woman's name.

"My, my? That face? Are you planning to attack me? Or perhaps, you want to try something else?" Sai branded the golden tool in front of him "That woman, you know, she blackmailed my father, using my secret against him to squeeze money for years until finally, my father's heart couldn't take it anymore. She killed him! My father! And I bet, that as before, when she did it to me, you went back crawling to her, as a lovesick beast!"

Saito wanted to scream back, instead, he flashed his ID again, now, that was enough to make the boy blanch a little and drop the tool on the table.

"You...I hate you so much" the boy said between teeth, one of his white hands covering half of his face in a futile try to shield himself "Why don't you bother Nephrite or Jadeite? Why me?...Go. Please, just leave me alone"

Saito took pity on the boy, perhaps because he was a grieving orphan, or perhaps because his dad beauty was better left untouched by the time being "I will return later"

At least, he got two new names, or perhaps, if the tickle on his memories was anything to go for, old acquaintances that Saito knew from long ago. He felt like two people walking in a single body, sharing just part of the well called past, and everytime Saito was about to dive in, it slipped between his fingers. Nevertheless, in the new madness of the day, he would keep walking for it was his reality.

With that thought in mind, he called Masato's garden, to see if his suspect Shingo was on the place in the evening. Luck was on his side, because it was the boy himself that answered the phone.

"Do you know who made the delivery at Soto's street?" Saito asked over the phone.  
"Ehm, normally, when I don't do it ..ehm, it's Mr. Masato the one who does it? Ehm, you are really like a detective? A cop?"

"Yes" Saito answered before asking his next question "Would you know Masato's address?"

Shingo didn't know the address of his boss, but knew how to give directions and so, after half an hour of search, Saito found himself in front of a big mansion. He cursed every god he could recall, because he got that familiar sense of Deja Vu that had followed him since he took Beryl's case. Not only that, on the side of the gate, perched on the wall, lay a white cat.

"So, you are also here", he wasn't crazy enough to ask the cat if it was secretly a blond woman, but the fact that the thought crossed his mind made him laugh a little. Saito pushed the gate and went inside the front yard. Such a lavish place, so unlike what one would expect from a simple florery owner. Perhaps Masato was also mingled in Beryl's shady business and at one point he had decided to get rid of his associate.

"Kenjiro Saito, I suppose" a man asked from behind Saito.

"Nice garden you got here"

"Cut the chase. What are you doing here?"  
Masato had long wavy brown hair, a square face with a strong chin and light brown eyes. And how sad that Saito recognized yet another face and voice even if he shouldn't be able to.

"I'm investigating Beryl's murder. You were in her office that morning, weren't you? I will bet, you were the last person to see her alive"  
"We didn't deliver Beryl's flowers that day. The delivery boy was late, and so, by the time he got to work, Beryl's place was already barred"

"And how did you injure your hand? Hitting a locker in her office"

"A pot fell on my hand yesterday" Masato 'corrected'. Always a smooth liar.

"I guessed as much" Saito showed himself the exit. He would return later, of that he was sure. Not that he had scratches Shinjo Tsukino completely, his alibi was also too good to be true.

* * *

Going to a temple in weekdays was out of the ordinary for Saito, but after two impossible to believe days, he deserved to meditate in the tranquility of a quiet place. He had never visited that particular shrine, in a way, he picked the place because unlike so many others, it was void of any washed memory.

"Kunzite?"

  
Damn.

The person that had used that cursed name was a business woman wearing a purple dress that matched her eyes.

  
"Do I really look that much like him?" He smiled, trying to look unfazed by it.  
"Uhm, sorry. I wouldn't know"

Saito raised an eyebrow and she flushed as she elaborated "It was ten years ago, there was this man and his pals, they were bothering my friends and me"

"I guess you didn't like those men at all"

"I mostly pitied them" she said, a pensive look on her porcelain face "I don't believe they were bad people...just, they got taken by the wrong crowd, their loved ones used against them….and then, all of them got their own person stolen by said wrong crowd"

"They sound as your average criminal"

"Then, perhaps, average criminals are just lost and they need help to find their path again"

"That's what jails are for"

"Developing your person and learning to recognize the right path is hard even without being caged. Jails are there because society wants to punish"

"And protect itself. Law abiding citizens deserve security and criminals deserve to be jailed"

The woman gave him a pointed look "I guess, you are a sort of cop"

"A detective. Kenjiro Saito at your service, Miss..."

"I'm Rei Hino. My grandpa works at this shrine and I help him, so when you desire, I might give you one of our lucky charms, made by my own hands, they surely will help you to catch your criminals" she said more amicably than what he expected. For much she pitied criminals, she respected the law.

"That would be helpful" Saito smiled, finally things were looking bright, perhaps a sign that he should ask a little more. Everyone that had called him Kunzite knew about Lombardi, and so he had to ask "Does the name Beryl ring any bells?"

"Mmm…is a precious stone, isn't it?"

"Beryl Lombardo? No, do the names Michiru, Masato, Soito, Nephrite or Jadeite, perhaps?"

"The last one, I know a Jade Ito"

"Short wavy hair, pierced ears and gray eyes?"

"Yes. That man works for my father"

"By chance, is your father Senator Hino?"

"Yes, he is. Did Jade do anything? Is he one of your culprits?"

"I hope not"

Rei obviously cared for Jade, and as she was the first nice person he had met in days, he was truthful in that desire.

His wishes for the innocence of Jade Ito weren't enough to stop him for forming a theory in his head. He already suspected Beryl was a shady person, someone with dirt in a lot of people, and so, it made sense that she would have juicy information about senator Hino, who had a worker called Jade Ito, that by "coincidence" was boyfriend of Beryl's assistant, Thetis.

So, if one were to think blackmailing was involved, which place would be the best to hide it? A place where it could be sent fast. Was Beryl tech savvy? Without a better idea, Saito opted to return to the crime scene.  
There had been a bended locker. Too suspicious as to not check it.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one with the idea of checking Soto's office. A parked car, lights still turned on, open door, in front of the place.

Some would believe it anticlimactic, but as Saito stepped outside of his car, he felt shivers trailing his arms. Whoever was inside, had already murdered a woman in cold blood by an unknown means, and facing such person alone was dangerous.  
"Hands where I can see them" Saito barked at the man.

Jade Ito's face was composed as he moved away from a computer that he had been trying to log in.

"So, Ito Jade? An assistant of Senator's Hino? This was a careless move" Saito chided, finally letting some disappointment wash over him.

"If only this damn computer was working, it wouldn't be" Jade said petulantly "It was supposed to be fixed!"

"Yeah, a lot of things were supposed to be different" Saito responded, pulling out the cuffs.

In series of TV, sometimes, characters talked about killing instinct, an odd feeling that someone was planning to kill you. In ten years of working, he had never experienced it until that moment. It was a wet, chocking, feeling under his palate, a cold hand over his chest, as if it wanted to Pierce through it and towards his heart.

He felt rage at that.

Blindly, forgetting his suspect, he rushed outside, trailing after the murderous intent that was still trying to suffocate him, to the point that it stopped being a sensation and it manifested around him as mist.

He was unfazed when he found a woman resting, from all places, above a street light. Her long dark hair mixing with the darkness and her dress losing texture where it touched the mist.

Thetis attack was quiet, not any sort of fanfare but a raised finger. He managed to evade and only got a cut on his arm, as if a knife had been throwed. Maybe, it was down there, hidden by the mist, even if Saito didn't hear it clank.

No, it probably had become mist too. Thetis had always been a lethal silent killer, working for Beryl and murdering just in the way to make everyone suspicious of the others.Wars were started due to her and Saito had been an idiot for not figuring it soon enough.

In his mind, he could see Beryl's red lips, mocking him, beckoning him to get nearer until he was nothing but another of her toys, to use and dispose as she wished. Better him than his family, he had thought as he knelt before her, renouncing all his previous loyalties. And next thing he knew, his hands were moving against his will, drowning a petite silver haired girl, as the monster he was. And now, he himself was trying to grasp for air. A fitting for another one of Beryl's puppets, for a fratcidal being.

"Mmm...you know, you can stop mumbling. It makes you look frail and weak. It's sad even for me"

He blinked once, disoriented. His left hand was gripping his scalp and his index finger had managed to tear again the injury on his forehead. He was back in the real world, but the memories that formed Kenjiro Saito looked fake, a mockery of a half-life trying to hide the ugly true of the vilest of sinners. He knew he didn't have a sister, but perhaps, it was because he had killed her, centuries ago.

"You know, there's a notebook missing. Beryl seems to have misplaced, tell me General Kunzite, where do you think it is?"  
"I'm not Kunzite" the words sounded fake even to his ears.

"Beryl is dead. Someone killed her and probably took one of the twin notebooks. With that thing, they could do awful things. Make people do terrible acts, you know, so there's no time to play a fool"

"I…" he gulped. Because now, he was unsure of who he was, but between all his fragments memories, he could place her face. Before and after Beryl, that blond woman with orange miniskirt, was always in the category of enemy.

His enemy. Beryl's enemy.

"Venus, wasn't it?" he tasted the name and she nodded at that "I don't, the generals? I remember them. Nephrite, Jadeite, Zoicite... Masato, Jade, Zoito, those are their names now" he used the wall to steady himself, knees still weak "All of them had a motive, not necessarily due the past"

And if some of them recalled the past as vividly as Saito did, then they had every reason to try to get rid of Beryl as soon as they could. He almost wished to check the morgue and see again, with his own eyes, that Beryl was still dead.

"Seriously?" Venus raised an eyebrow at that.  
"Beryl was blackmailed Jadeite's boss and she caused Zoicites's father dead"  
Venus whistled "Whaou, she doesn't lose time in screwing everyone, does she?...well, not anymore, as she was killed. Maybe by a general or by one of her Youmas, either way, dangerous magic notebook must be found and dealt with"

"Magic?" he repeated and gave her a cold stare.

"Don't tell me you are one of those that prefer to call it 'ancient artefact' or 'advanced technology' depending on your mood. Magic is more helpful, and so, we will call it, dark magic notebook of doom. That's final"

"That notebook, what is it capable of?"

"Same old, opening dark portals to monsters, sending illness and creating droughts, controlling a person's body so they may murder even their mother"

Saito felt faint. If someone had that notebook, then Saito's will would again be overridden and he that was a worse nightmare, because unlike the past, the danger was in his present.

"What would stop you from using it for your own means?" Saito asked warily "You have kidnapped me once already, and I recall, back when Beryl ruled, you were trying to murder me"

Venus contemplated the words and lowered her eyes, looking for the first time truly apologetic "Sorry"

"For trying to murder me?"

"Yes" her lips quivered "Sorry for failing"

That made two

* * *

"It was supposed to be there. The technician was going to arrive early in the morning, before opening"

  
"And I tell you, that stupid machine wasn't working! And now a cop knows! Fuck, what happened to him, he just bolted"

"I have already deal with it"

"Thetis, you... someone is at the door"

The couple barely had time to compose themselves, for in front of them, after breaking in, there was Saito, staring at them. He hoped that Venus being there, dressed as a bad cosplayer of a cop, was an asset and not a hindrance to his unfriendly act.

"You…" Thetis managed to get even paler and moved closed to Jade. Always the shield for him and Saito was bitter that he knew that much about her.

"Hello, Thetis, Jade" Venus crossed her arms. Everything of her screamed soldier and Saito feel a sort of pride about it "I haven't seen you in a while, but there's very little time for pleasantries. I'm in search of something" Venus untangled her arms "And, I won't hesitate. Not with you, Tethis"

"You wouldn't dare" Thetis eyed Jade and then gave Saito a pleading look.

"He and I are allies for the time being"  
Saito watched them. If they had the notebook, then the best option was taking them off before they used it against Saito. Thetis apparently was smart enough to figure out that Saito was even more dangerous than Venus and turned to her.

"Can we talk about this? In another place?"

"He ain't any child. And want it or not, he is involved. So, tell me what I want to know, right now and here" Venus deadpanned.

"Beryl had a plan for the Eclipse, in two days. I planned to stop her " Thetis glanced at Jade "I didn't, someone else was stronger, someone managed to lower her defenses.." the woman curled her lips, realization dawning on her "Kunzite was there, the night before Beryl's dead, do you know, whatever you are searching, he has it"

Venus thought about it a little but continued her interrogation "What was Beryl collecting for this ritual on the Eclipse day?"

"The ones that used to belong to her. She wanted us back. All of us"

"You used to be one of her most loyal soldiers, how do I know you aren't still plotting to follow where she left?"

"She wanted us all. You were right. This is a curse I can't and I don't want to lift"

"I see" Venus raised an eyebrow at her words but she kept an icy expression "If you spoke lies to me or if you ever dare to follow even one step of Beryl's path, be know, that I'll destroy you, Tethis. That I can promise"

They walked outside, Saito following one step behind, and once they were inside Saito's car, he could finally see how her fingers trembled and the unshed tears on her eyes.

For someone so remarkably scary, at that moment, to him, was just so alike so many powerless women unable to change anything. And he also was like that.

Beryl might be dead, but what she did to Kunzite, what she made him do as her soldier, those things were impossible to erase and even with fragmented memories, the shadows could still grip his heart.

There were no words of comfort as he drove to the next destination. Again, the flower store was closed, this time it made sense for it was pretty late in the evening. And the silence was just too much for him.

"What happened back then? With Tethis?"Saito asked. He had been Beryl's beloved general, helped the madwoman to destroy the Moon Kingdom (and how sad was that he now believed in magical Kingdoms set on the Moon), but Venus was still nicer to him than with Thetis.

Venus's eyes pierced him, with less steel and more softness behind them "As Kunzite, you were an older brother. I remember as much, and what Beryl did with your family"

Saito gripped the wheel, air gone from his lungs. He had managed to recall having one sister, but with Venus's words, the rest of his five siblings were suddenly present, haunting his mind with nameless faces. Worst of all, Saito knew how they had been killed. It was such a bitter knowledge, he sold his soul to protect his family and at the end, it was for naught. Venus waited for him to compose himself before speaking again.

"I was the oldest of five sisters. Tethis was the one behind my youngest sister's death. There were a lot of crimes committed, Tethis isn't the worst offender or the most blood stained, but I...even if it goes against everything our Queen wanted, or if a millienium has already happened and we have been reborn in this Earth to do the most with this second life, I can't find in my heart to forgive her"

He stared at her. She was truly ashamed about her failure to forgive Tethis. He let himself feel pity, for he was glad to foster his hate for Beryl all his life, and the next ones. Only to hold on that ill feeling, he would submit himself to the memories of his own crimes. He was too prideful to do anything but that.

"Do you think she has the notebook?"

"No" Venus opened the door and steeped out "I need some fresh air. See you tomorrow's morning at Nephrite's place"

"Tomorrow is the Eclipse. If someone has the notebook and uses it, the consequences could be dire" he mentioned, aware that she knew it already, wary that she would take a break in the current situation. It was suspicious, but she vanished too soon, and he couldn't follow her.

He still had one last lead left. Shinjo, the delivery boy that was supposed to be at the crime scene the day of the crime. Perhaps, the boy had taken the notebook by mistake. Better in his ignorant hands than any other, but still a danger Saito should stop before it began.

The Tsukino's were, luckily, still awake. Saito checked his watch, five minutes to twelve.  
He knocked the door four times before Usagi Tsukino answered the door. Blond hair and blue eyes, Saito finally noticed it as outstanding, something that could be explained by magic and reincarnation instead of Western heritage. He was glad that her face wasn't in any of his old memory banks.

"Oh, detective Saito. It's quite late, isn't it?"

"It is"

"Please, come in" she allowed him inside and started explaining "You see, my brother and my boyfriend are trying to fix my computer. It has a virus, they say, apparently I opened a bad mail, I hope it isn't that bad, I have my drafts saved on it"

"I'm sure it will be fine. Can you call your brother?"

"Oh, yes. He isn't that good with computers anyway, my boyfriend, Mamoru, is the one who has his own company to fix computers, so Shinjo is pretty much observing" she laughed and flushed when she noticed her chattiness. She finally called her brother's name and he appeared a little bit later.  
In his blue pijamas, the boy couldn't pass ever as a notebook thieve, much less as a killer. Saito still checked the fingernails of the boy for any blood stain. Beryl had crossed more people in her past life than in the new one, and the blond boy in front of Saito could pretty well be one of those unlucky enough to remember.

"Have you heard about what happened on Soto's street?"

"Whaou, that. Yes, it has been all over the news. I wonder.." the boy crossed his arms as he thought about something, he continued bitterly "...that day, I woke up late, if I hadn't, perhaps I would have done the delivery and stopped the killer. If only I hadn't been so useless"

"Oh, no, don't say that Shinjo. You don't know what would have happened, perhaps, this was for the best" Usagi jumped to comfort her brother.

Fraternal love, pure, kind and impossible to replace. Saito was unable to stand the scene any longer and ran to his car.

He drove for hours around the city, outside it, back to the center, to Soto's street, to his apartment. To nowhere.

He had never been so grateful for the dawn, finally, he had a destination, a goal.

Venus was waiting for him outside the gates of Masato - Nephrite's - mansion.  
"You look terrible"  
"Good morning" he greeted back and pushed the gates, open as if Nephrite were waiting for them.

Chances were that Nephrite already had a premonition about their arrival. Apparently, not that early, for the man himself was taking a shower and Venus was happy to wait half an hour in the living room until the man was ready.

"What a pleasure to see you again" Nephrite said bitterly.

"Since when do you remember Nephrite?" Saito asked, unfazed.

"Remember what?" Nephrite played the fool, completely expecting to be called out.  
"Was it before or after you delivered those flower in the day of Beryl's murder?"  
"Me? At that place?"

"Almost all of those flowers were fresh, the tag still clean. It was just tagged that same morning. Little Shinjo didn't the delivery, and only you, the boss, was unaccounted for in that morning"

Nephrite smiled, shameless "It was precisely at that moment. She made me remember, tried to threaten me even"

Saito's blood boiled as he remembered at that moment what happened between him and Beryl just the night before Beryl's murder. He had given himself again, to Beryl, to protect everyone one more time. The same gullible fool, as weak as ever against her. Obviously, she had bit off more than she could chew and her life was taken away by one of the generals.

"And so you killed her"

"Did I?"

"Your flowers were on the crime scene. Red roses that you delivered that day" Saito explained himself over again and Nephrite blanched a little.

"My roses?" Nephrite muttered and reality crashed over Saito, cold and cruel "Do you remember, back when we were brothers in arms, in the Golden Kingdom. They came after your family, and I believed you the most vile of traitors, a despicable creature, but when Endymion's life was at stake, I gave myself to Beryl. With my own hands, I damned my soul for nothing. This time, I'm willing to forsake only my freedom. Becoming a prisoner for those you love, my fate has always remained unchanged"

  
"It won't be needed. At least, on my part.." he checked Venus and saw her nod "I won't be bothering you anymore"

* * *

  
Saito felt dread as he walked towards his apartment door. All the pieces were laying there for him, probably, since the moment he walked in that crime scene and so, Saito had made himself forget once more time, who Beryl was and all the past he had uncovered a night before.

  
Once inside the safety of his room, he rested his face against the white door before speaking "what are you doing here, Venus?"

"Thanks for the head start. Now, this is mine" Venus waved a notebook with red letters in front of her and he shrugged. It was an useless item on her hands "So, Kunzite, what would you do about Beryl's assassin?"

"How did you know I had the notebook?"

"No fair! I asked first. Ah, ok. When you stopped looking worried and stressed, not even going to the assassin's place to make sure he didn't have the notebook, I knew you had it. Lucky for me, it was here, in your apartment and not in a vault in the bank"  
Saito felt dread again. She already knew who was the killer. His fear to confirm with his own voice kept him for asking her 'how do you know'.

"Now" she took a white handkerchief out of her skirt. He noticed his own name embroidered on it "You explain how you got the notebook"

"As Tethis said, I was with Beryl just the night before her murder. She used a spell to make me remember. Beryl already knew where every other general was. I stole that notebook because I didn't trust her"  
"Only the generals, or she also knew where Endymion is?"

"Stay away from him!" Saito bitted and she raised her chin in childish defiance.

"So, you also know. You saw him, at the Tsukino's, didn't you? He is lucky it was you and no other cop the one that went"  
"When did you figure out?"

"Eh? A girl isn't supposed to tell" she winked "But, as we were cop buddies...You know, Beryl made almost all of her followers kill the person they loved the most, to break them. She couldn't do so with Nephrite, because she also loved Endymion. That's why I suspected only Nephrite, among you, would be able to succeed in killing Beryl, but it was until he offered to take the fall I knew who was the real culprit"

Her reasoning had merit. He only had one last question left.

"What happens now?"

"We move forward" she answered before giving him a soft kiss on his check. She walked away, stepping outside his room, his life, a white cat trailing after her.

He sat on the windowsill, and watched the eclipse. His only thought at that moment is that he really needed to call a day off.


End file.
